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More tools needed to continue day surgery rates

When several of Red Deer hospital's operating rooms shut down due to a flood at the hospital last March, overflow for many day surgeries...

When several of Red Deer hospital's operating rooms shut down due to a flood at the hospital last March, overflow for many day surgeries were rerouted to Stettler.

To keep up with the load, Stettler borrowed two surgical pans from the Red Deer hospital, pans which need to be returned this coming March 1, 2017. Since then, the hospital has made itself known as a viable option for day surgeries and operating rooms, and Alberta Health Services (AHS) has kept with the higher number of surgeries coming to the hospital.

Without the two pans, the hospital won't be able to keep up with the current level of service. Despite the name, the surgical pans are much more than just a metal tray. The pans include the many necessary pieces of equipment and surgical tools necessary for the surgery – in this case, laparoscopy.

According to Diane Palmer, hospital manager, the Stettler hospital already has two of the trays, valued at $32,500 each.

"We're very appreciative of Red Deer for the loan of the pans," Palmer said. "But now that (Red Deer is) up and running, they need them back."

However, buying the pans and the tools within isn't in the hospital's budget, and unless another two can be acquired, the number of surgeries at Stettler hospital will have no option but to be scaled back.

The reason the third and fourth pans and its tools are needed is due to the length of time it requires to sanitize them between surgeries. It's more than simply washing with soap and water: the highly specific tools are heated to high temperatures to kill off any unwanted pathogens, then sealed in paper to preserve their sterility, explained Palmer.

It takes about an hour for the tray and its contents to be sanitized after use or exposure, then about another two hours to become cool enough to use. With the speed at which laparoscopic surgery takes place, and the slow speed at which the tools are cleaned, that means after two surgeries, there is at least a few hours wait before another can be performed, she added.

With the two pans loaned to the hospital by Red Deer, the hospital has been able to have between six to eight laparoscopic surgeries per day on the eight days every month that surgeons are at the hospital here in Stettler.

Laparoscopic surgery allows surgeons to perform their tasks without causing serious cuts in the patient, which in turn reduces the amount of time necessary to heal as well as reducing chances of infection.

The Stettler Health Services Foundation, which raises money for hospital upgrades, is currently looking at whether or not it can, and should, fund the equipment trays. The need for the equipment was made known to the foundation, which is now in talks with AHS to see how to proceed. There is a chance AHS may pay for the equipment, or part of it, or the foundation may have to fundraise the full amount.